A 4,722-Year-Old Lesson! Egypt’s Joseph The Dreamer Crafted 1st Food Security Plan

There is a Biblical account (Genesis 37–50) of how Joseph, most beloved son of Jacob, sold by his jealous brothers to a party of Ishmaelites, or Midianites who carried him to Egypt where he later became the most trusted aide of the Pharaoh, saved the nation from a 7-year famine which followed 7 years of bountiful harvest.
Whether historically accurate or not, the story of howJoseph, who was later called Joseph The Dreamer because he foresaw the future in his dreams, prepared Egypt’s Food Security Strategy by moving around the vast nation and identifying what food items could be produced in abundance and stored in granaries that he had built is a perfect example of a sound Food Security plan.
The story is all about Vision, Preparation and Action, a strategy which the Department of Agriculture tried to replicate when I was Secretary of Agriculture.
After moving around the country during the first two years of my short stint as Secretary of Agriculture through a program called “Biyaheng Bukid,” I directed the Department of Agriculture officials to engage the local leaders, especially Mayors and Governors, to crafting a National Food Security Plan based on the inputs from farmers and fishermen during the Biyaheng Bukid and the identified priorities of the LGUs.
The theme of the Food Security Forum is “Mamamayan Ko, Pakakainin Ko” which intended to remind the local executives that one of their most important duties is to ensure that they could provide food for their people.
The local chief executives were asked to submit their Provincial and Municipal Food Security Plan will indicated the population, food consumption and capability to produce the food requirement of their people.
The Mayors and Governors were asked to submit the following data:
1. Topo and geographical map of the town;
2. Total population and land area;
3. Existing and potential production areas for rice, corn, vegetables, poultry and livestock;
4. Level of food sufficiency, especially rice and vegetables;
5. Interventions required to achieve food sufficiency like farm to market roads, irrigation, post-harvest facilities;
6. Possible sources of food supply in cases where the town because of its topography and soil conditions could not produce enough for its population.
The Food Security Plan will clearly indicate whether the LGU is capable of feeding its own people and what it needs to produce food, like how many kilometers of farm to market roads, where are the potential sources of water and post harvest facilities.
When the National Food Security Plan was completed based on the information of all the LGUs and the agriculture and fisheries stakeholders, the blueprint was prepared for implementation.
Sadly, following my public disagreements with the Economic Managers on issues of importation and the lack of funding support for the Agriculture sector, I resigned as Secretary of Agriculrure and moved to the Mindanao Development Authority on Aug. 5, 2019.
The National Food Security Strategy must be revisited in the face of a loomig food shortage and food crisis in the world.
Just like Joseph The Dreamer, we must rely on the capability of our farmers and fishermen to produce food for the country and end the foolish idea of relying on our neighbors for our food supply.
To prepare for the impending food crisis, the Mayors and Governors must now conduct an inventory of their food stocks, their projected food consumption requirement and immediately boost local food production programs.
This is a strategy which had been proven right 4,722 years ago by a shepherd boy who did not have a PhD in Economics or Management.
#VisionPreparationAction!
(Images of Joseph The Dreamer and the preparations for the 7-year-famine were downloaded from public websites.)